Alive
by SassyPrincess14
Summary: This is how I believe the mid-season finale of season 5 should have ended. As long as people enjoy it, I will write what I think should happen for the second half of the season. BETH IS ALIVE IN THIS! Daryl/Beth (Bethyl). I think all of us Bethyl shippers need some comfort after the mid-season finale!
1. Chapter 1

Daryl walked, more like sprinted from the hospital with the girl in his arms. Her blonde hair was soaked with blood and all that he knew was that he had to save her. They had not come this far just for her to die. She had to be saved! Beth Greene would not die today, not when he just got her back.

Maggie noticed Daryl holding her sister's limp body in his arms. She nearly started crying but the determined look on Daryl's face made her realise Beth wasn't dead. Yet.

"We've gotta lay her down," Maggie said. She knew very little about all of this stuff, but with everyone's help, they could save her little sister, right? "What happened?"

"Gun shot...Think it just grazed 'er," Daryl said. Abraham wordlessly helped get the girl into the fire engine. Maggie climbed in side too. "We need a needle and some thread," Daryl called out to the rest of the group.

"We may have something in here," Rosita because looking through the fire truck and found a first aid kit. There were sutures and a small bottle of rubbing alcohol. Daryl disinfected the graze as best he could, it was pretty deep, but not deep enough to hit bone―luckily. He threaded the needle and began sewing it up as best he could. Once that was done, he sat behind her, her head resting on his leg to keep her head higher than her heart―so the bleeding would slow. He had a gauze to her head as they drove down the road. He didn't know where they were going, he didn't care. As long as Beth lived. She had to live...all of this couldn't be for nothing!

"Daryl, you alright?" Glenn asked upon seeing the blue eyed man's zoned out stare.

"Mm," he nodded, he hadn't noticed that unconsciously his hand had taken hers. He started to release it, but he couldn't. He felt like maybe he was her only lifeline, her only hope of living.

"We're here," Glenn said, trying to get Daryl to move, to say something, do something.

"I'm gonna stay out here 'til she wakes up."

"Daryl..."

"I said go. I'll be here." Without further protest, Glenn left. Daryl sat with Beth for two more hours. The sun was about to go down when her blue eyes finally met his.

"My head," she groaned.

"Bein' shot don't feel too good, does it?" she started to move her hand that wasn't holding his to her head, but he stopped her. "Don't. Let's get ya inside."

"What happened?"

"We'll talk 'bout it later," he scooped her up and took her into the small motel they were currently residing. It was something, he supposed. It was out side of the city, but not far enough for his liking. He wished they were in the middle of the woods. The further from walkers and people alike, the better.

"You saved me, didn't you?"

"Mm hmm," Daryl replied, taking her into one of the open bedrooms and setting her gently on the bed. "I'm gonna go get ya some water." Her hand grabbed his tightly, used all of the strength that remained.

"Please don't go..."

Daryl obliged and sat beside the bed on the floor. "I won't." Her eyes had closed again, but she was breathing softly, maybe she would fall asleep.

"Anything else hurt?" he found himself asked.

"Just my head...So what did happen?"

"Ya got shot. That bitch shot ya, it just grazed ya, though...She's dead, I promise."

"She shot me...?" None of this made sense. Everything was so foggy in her mind. She didn't remember much of anything, especially not her stay at Grady. She did remember Daryl though. Very well. She remembered when they were alone, back at the funeral home when he had taken care of her.

A knock came from the door and Beth tried to look, but the light was blinding.

"Oh Beth," Maggie knelt beside her―on the other side of Daryl. She took the other hand and kissed it. "You're not gonna die on me too, are ya?" she asked.

"No, dyin' ain't on my to-do list," she said, giver her sister the best smile she could muster, even though her eyes were still closed. "You're stuck with me. You too, Daryl," she squeezed his hand and he couldn't help but smile just a bit.

"Good, don' go leavin' us any time soon," Daryl said. Maggie looked up right away. There was something different with him. Something...off. Maybe it was his tone of voice...maybe it was the way he was _smiling_ at her sister...Daryl Dixon certainly was not acting like the grumpy redneck everyone knew and loved around their group, well not in this aspect anyway. She supposed she could write it off as he wasn't ready to loose someone else...but still...something felt strange to her.

"I'll be righ' back. I'm gonna try to find ya some medicine or somethin'," Maggie left the room, leaving Daryl and Beth alone for a moment.

"'M sure your sister wants to talk to ya for a bit," Daryl started to get up.

"Just stay...a little longer," she pleaded. Unable to say no, Daryl sat back down.

He stayed for a whole hour more. When he finally left, Beth was sleeping deeply and rather comfortably. Daryl's hand was wrapped in both of hers as she cuddled it close to her.

Carefully, he wiggled it free and she grunted a bit in her sleep, but consoled herself quickly. Before leaving the room, Daryl felt the urge to kiss her forehead. A gesture he had never done for anyone...But then again, he had never held someone in his arms as they clung to life before he saved them. So Daryl kissed her forehead before leaving the room to set up his own.

**AN: Hey guys, I'm really pissed at the writers of TWD right now. I know I'm not the only one. Please feel free to rant in the reviews. Make it your therapy session. I cried my eyes out at last night's episode and you know what I'm gonna do now? I'm writing the second half of season 5. HOW IT SHOULD BE! As you can tell, Beth is not dead here (omg almost started crying) please review if you want to read how it should take place (if you hate it for some reason, please don't flame. I write these stories to express my emotion, so if it's horrible and amateurish, I am 16 and haven't perfected my work yet). Please do enjoy the story though :D. **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: thank you to everyone who has read/reviewed/followed. I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story. As a thank you, here is chapter 2:**

It had been two weeks. Daryl had spent much of his time with Beth, helping her to get better. If he wasn't there—which was only when he needed to sleep or when he hunted—Maggie was there. She was so very grateful to Daryl for his support with her sister.

"I'm gonna go hunt," Daryl started to leave but Beth sat up in the bed. She could do most things for herself now, being as she was nearly fully healed. Daryl turned back to her as she began pulling boots on over her jeans. "What're ya doin'?"

"Coming with you. You still need to teach me how to use your crossbow," she pulled her hair in a ponytail and smiled at him. She waited to hear him tell her no. It didn't happen.

"Ya gotta be careful, ya hear?"

"Yes sir," she saluted playfully. They walked into the area where a lot of the other group members were. Carl and Michone were speaking quietly. Maggie walked in from a separate hallway and took one look at Beth and shook her head.

"No. You're not ready yet," the brunette said. "Go on back to bed."

"Maggie, it's fine. Dr. Daryl cleared me for huntin'. Right?"

When Daryl saw Maggie's death stare he almost said no. But he knew Beth was ready. It was better to get her back out there and comfortable with handling the crossbow as soon as possible.

"I'll be right there. She'll be fine," Daryl assure Maggie. She just gave him a look as they left. She wanted her baby sister—who she had just recently gotten back—to be safe! Going out into the woods with walkers was not exactly Maggie's definition of safe!

"Do you have an extra gun…just in case?" Beth asked Daryl. He nodded and handed her his second one. It was actually his only gun but he had a knife and his crossbow. He figured he would be alright.

"Got yer knife?"

"Shoot! I'll be right back," she the. Walked back to her room.

While Daryl stood waiting, carol walked into the room and stood beside him.

"I may not save people anymore, but you do," she patted his shoulder and he just gave a small shrug.

"Just doin' what needed to be done."

"Okay, now I'm ready," Beth felt so silly leaving her knife in her room. That was a rookie mistake. She could play it off as it was simply because she had left in a hurry but it had been her own carelessness.

"We're gonna bring back dinner," Daryl told Carol as they left.

XxX

They had hunted for nearly an hour and found nothing, that was until Daryl noticed a wild turkey. They were far enough away from it that it hadn't noticed them yet. He found Beth's eyes focused on it. She pulled up the crossbow and aimed. She let the arrow fly and reloaded—it was difficult for her because she lacked the muscle Daryl had.

The turkey moved a bit before it fell. She had hit her where its cheek would have been, not perfectly in the eye, but for it being her first time. Not bad at all, actually.

"Did I kill it? Beth stepped over the log they had been ducked behind to check out her shot.

"Ya did. Aim was a little off."

"It was my first shot," she said, seeing the small smile on his face. "I don't think it was too bad at all."

"Still got room for improvement," he smirked.

"Daryl," she rolled her eyes. " I bet your first shot wasn't perfect."

"No. Arrow gave it a nice hole for an earring though."

"See? Plus I have a much better teacher."

XxX

They made their way back to the motel, Beth carrying her kill—she had insisted on it actually.

"I never got to thank you," Beth realised.

"For what?"

"Savin' my life. And don't even tell me it wasn't a big deal…because it was," she stopped him. She stood in front of him and grinned. "And thank you for staying with me as much as you did. You didn't have to do that either." She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. To her surprise, his arms have her a gentle squeeze.

While they hugged, the dead Turkey was still in Beth's hand and when Daryl felt its beak touch he back, he jumped a little.

"Daryl Dixon afraid of a little bird?" She grinned.

"No," he frowned, glaring at her ginning face.

**AN: sorry it was short. I'm on my phone right now typing this (which is difficult) I hope you enjoyed it. I'm trying to start things a little slow, but everything will pick up soon. **


	3. Chapter 3

"This is stupid," Carl stated.

"What is?" Beth asked, sitting beside the younger boy on one of the couches as she held baby Judith.

"Staying here," he replied. "We're going to get ourselves killed. It's either keep moving or die," he said. "It happens everywhere," Beth continued to hold the baby as she pondered his words.

"So we stay here until we've worn out our stay," she concluded.

"What's the point of living if we're constantly running?" she asked him and he shrugged.

"I just don't want anyone else to die. We've seen enough of it," in that moment, Beth thought of him as a child. She hadn't in a long time. It was no secret that Carl could take care of himself, that he was capable of keeping the group safe just as much as the next person. It had become the common opinion that he was much more of an asset than a burden.

"It won't end, all you can do is find something worth getting up for," she held out the baby to him and he took it.

"What is it for you?"

"I don't really know yet. Back at the hospital, it was the hopes that I could find a way to escape. I've gotta find something new now. Find whatever works for you."

The front door opened, grabbing their attention they both looked over the couch as they both rested their hands on their guns―Beth's gun was technically Daryl's but he had told her to keep it, for now at least. They didn't have very many extras around the group and he didn't really need it. He wanted her safe.

"Find anything?" Carl asked, seeing Daryl walk through the door and hold it open. He and Rick had left earlier in the day on a scouting trip to see if they could find supplies to last them the winter ahead of them.

"Someone," Daryl stated plainly.

Rick walked in with a girl about Carl's age in tow. She had dark brown hair, which was in a pony tail. Carl didn't see much else before Rick led her out of sight. Curious, Carl started to get up.

"Who is she?" Beth asked, walking over to Daryl.

"Some girl. We found 'er in one of the stores. She's hurt bad. Cut 'er arm open while we were there," Daryl explained. Carl paused, listening to the two talk, watching they way they looked at each other. He wasn't sure what it was, but something was different between the two of them, he couldn't put his finger on exactly what it was, but he would, eventually.

"Is she going to be okay?" Carl asked.

"If they can fix 'er up, maybe," Daryl didn't want to make any promises. You couldn't make promises nowadays. You could only guess what would happen. Nothing was guaranteed any more. Nothing except that one day you would die.

"How do we know she's not bit?" Beth asked, looking at Daryl seriously.

"Saw 'er slice 'er arm open," he shrugged. "'Sides, she ain't old 'nough to be on 'er own anyway."

"I'm going to go see if I can help," Carl said, leaving the two alone.

"Can we go practice hunting a little more?" Beth asked timidly. Daryl wanted to say no, but what else was there to do? He was bored, so he nodded.

"Gonna need somethin' warmer than that." He motioned to her long sleeved shirt, knowing it was getting chillier and chillier by the hour out there. It was November and though Georgia was typically warm, if the weather kept up, it would be a bitter cold winter.

"I'll see if Maggie has a jacket I can barrow."

"Don' need to," Daryl had found something while they were out. They had stopped by to get clothes for everyone and they had found quite a bit. He pulled out a brown leather jacket from one of the stacks. "Ain't really yer style but―"

"I love it," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. His hand rested in the middle of her back for a second.

"Figured ya'd be the only one it'd fit anyway," he shrugged, like it was nothing. The jacket would have fit Maggie just fine, Beth was sure of it once she put it on. It was a comfortable loose though. She really liked the way it felt.

"It's perfect," she grinned, slipping it on. She was already dressed―given that they had to be ready to go at any point, she had her boots on and the two headed outside, letting Eugene, who was in the kitchen area, know that they were leaving. He just nodded and said that he would pass on the message.

"It'll help protect ya from walkers, too," Daryl pointed out. "Can't bite through the leather too well."

"The can't," she realised. "Maybe I should get leather pants too," she laughed, nudging Daryl's shoulder. He just rolled his eyes, followed by a stern "Stop." She grinned as they made their way deep into the woods once more. It had become almost a new routine, the two of them hunted for the group, well Beth tried. She wasn't too bad, but if they needed to come back with a bigger haul, Daryl did the majority of the hunting and let Beth help when she could.

But today, they had the freedom to just practice. They spent two hours out there, not getting much more than a couple squirrels, but they were pretty set up for now back at the hotel. They had tons of canned food, plus they were still working on a deer that had been caught just a few days earlier.

"I like that I get to do this," Beth stated. They had taken a short break to sit on some rocks over looking a small cliff―they had never been out that far before.

"Mm," he agreed. He did like that he could take her out there with him. It was nice that she appreciated what he taught her, and she didn't wear down his patience too much. She did make mistakes, but he had to accept that, plus, once she made one, she didn't tend to make it again. She leaned her head on his shoulder, rather tired from the long walk out there. "Should head back...check on that girl an' get these skinned," he held up the squirrels. She removed her head from his shoulder and together, they headed back.

"It's strange, we've seen maybe five walkers the whole time we've been out here. Why?"

"The cold maybe," he shrugged, not knowing for sure. He just wanted to enjoy it while it lasted. Like Carl, he realised that sooner or later they would have to leave the hotel. He just hoped it wasn't walkers or humans to chase them out when it happened. "Maybe their ain't been many people up 'ere."

"Maybe," she agreed.

XxX

Back at the hotel, Carl was sitting with the sleeping girl they had found earlier. He still didn't know her name, he hadn't seen someone his age in a long time...it was kind of weird, but deep down, he wanted friends. He longed to have a real childhood, one with a school and friends. Though he had adapted to this world, it wasn't really what he wanted.

Slowly, the girl's eyes opened and she looked at Carl in shock. "Who are you?" she demanded. She reached for the lamp beside the bed and Carl held his hands up in defense.

"Carl," he stated.

"You're a creep, watching someone sleep? How weird is that?" she calmed down a little, remembering Rick mention he had a son named Carl.

"I was just―" He was at a loss for words. What do you say when something like this happens? He had no idea.

"You were just being a creep, that's what," she said. Looking down at her arm. "I suppose I can forgive you, sense one of your people healed up my arm," she bit her lip, looking at it. "Violet," she said.

"What?" he looked at her confused.

"Violet, it's my name."

**AN: Because this is a rewrite for the second half of season 5, I have to include other characters other than just Daryl and Beth, so each chapter you will get a taste of them, but I would like to explore other character relationships as well. I hope you enjoyed this longer chapter. Your reviews are much appreciated. **


	4. Chapter 4

No matter what it is or how strange it sounds at first, people get used to it. The group got used to dead walking around and eating people. They got used to the fact that they all had to be weapon trained. And recently, they had gotten used to the fact that Daryl and Beth were hunting partners. The two of them left every other (sometimes every) morning at sunrise and went out to hunt for food.

At first everyone thought that they made an odd pair. But now, now it was nothing new. Violet had even integrated her way into the group. She was quiet most of the time. Unless she was around the few people she really connected with and trusted. She and Carl were especially close. She was so different to him that it fascinated him. He couldn't get enough of her eyes. They were this interesting mix that made them almost a shade of purple (hence her name).

"Are what are Beth and Daryl?" Violet asked Carl as they sat in his room at the hotel. She had a hard time explaining why she felt close to him as well. She wondered if normally you ended up having a special bond with the person who watched you sleep.

"Uh, what do you mean?"

"Are they like a couple or what?"

"No. They're just friends."

She nodded, unconvinced. Friends didn't usually spend that much time together. Or look at each other the way they did.

XxX

"Did you see that!?" Beth exclaimed.

"Shh!" Daryl hissed, trying to quiet her down.

"Oh hush. We haven't seen any walkers in weeks. Look at that shot though, Daryl. You're proud of me, aren't you?" She grinned, walking over to pick up the turkey she had shot perfectly in the eye.

"Yer aim's gettin' better," he remarked.

"Better? That was a great shot and you know it!"

"Not sayin' it wasn't," he said. "Pick the thing up so we can pluck it," he instructed. He was trying not to joke like they usually did today. Mostly because of dream he had the night before. A nightmare really. Beth had died. She as gone…he was so hurt by it in the dream. He didn't want to get attached like that. But he feared it may be too late.

"I haven't plucked one of these before," she said.

"Ain't hard."

"I'd rather live in a small house with a lot of land than a big house and no land," Beth said. They had started this game. It was kind of like "would you rather" but they got to say the whole thing. Daryl didn't reply for a minute. Beth wasn't sure if that was because he was thinking or because he didn't want to play. "C'mon Daryl..."

"Don' wanna play t'day."

"Why not? What's wrong?"

"Rather have quiet than noise."

"You've used that one before...but I'll let it go," she was in a good mood and she wanted it to rub off on him. "I'd rather be happy and live a short life than be mad all the time and live forever." Daryl tightened his jaw at that one.

"Rather be outside than inside."

"I'd rather die quickly—"

In one swift movement Daryl had her back against a tree. His hands holding her shoulders.

"Don't you dare talk 'bout dyin'!" He exclaimed. "Ha ain't gonna die, not if I got anythin' to do with it." He wasn't sure if he should be concerned or relieved that her eyes gave off zero hint of fear.

"We all do sometime," she said.

"Not you. Not ever," his face slowly moves closer to hers. And she bit her lip a little. She wanted him to kiss her so much. She yearned to feel his lips on hers once and for all.

Of course, Daryl didn't grant her this kindness. His hands fell from her shoulders and he stomped forward. "Daryl!" She called after him.

"Don't." He warned.

"Don't what? I was just catching up." This was the second time they had nearly kissed in the past two weeks. She had learned from the first time not to bring it up. "I'd rather kiss you than anybody I know," she stated. Proving she really hadn't learned her lesson.

"What'd I jus' say, Beth?"

"Look, clearly you want to do just man up and do it already! I've tried to keep my mouth shut about it from before. I can't do that anymore! Just kiss me."

"Fuck you," he murmured.

"Or that," she smirked a little (she was a little surprised by her boldness with that statement as well).

Daryl gave her the deadliest glare he could muster. "Dammit Greene!"

"I'll shut up when you stop being a pussy and kiss me," she knew that one would hit a nerve. That was probably why she said it the way she did.

He dropped his crossbow and his back pack onto the ground. He stopped close to her quickly and grabbed her face with his hands roughly before smashing his face to hers. There wasn't any way for her to actually kiss him back. It was so rough, but it was how you would expect a Daryl Dixon kiss to be. Rough.

"Now let's go," he pulled back. It seemed it lasted no time at all to Beth, but she did know she wanted to do that again.

**AN: was everything characterised okay here? I kinda just went with whatever. Let me know. And sorry I haven't updated. I've been working a ton. Please leave your reviews!**


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